


Testing His Luck

by AshsHorrorShow



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol, Bonding, Daddy Issues, Developing Relationship, Guns, Loneliness, M/M, Mentions of Mental Illness, Pre-Slash, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 17:11:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15890421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshsHorrorShow/pseuds/AshsHorrorShow
Summary: Harvey couldn't believe he was taking Edward's proposition seriously.





	Testing His Luck

Harvey and Two-Face didn’t always agree on some matters. However, both sides of him were absolutely convinced Edward Nygma had a death wish, or at the very least, was testing his luck, right now. 

Harvey didn’t know why he had struck up conversation with the man when he was at Oswald’s party. After all, Edward had a rather infamous reputation with the other Gotham rogues for being quite the pest. So why?

Maybe, as pathetic as it sounded, he was just lonely and was willing to talk to anyone who would listen. Besides, he probably figured that Edward was already so inebriated at that point, that the green-clad wouldn’t remember anything he said anyways. 

And to be fair, it had been a nice talk, or at least it felt so at the time. Harvey was usually a private man. He always had been, even when he was just one whole person. Gilda and Bruce had tried to get him to bring down his barriers many times. Gilda had even tried to recommend therapy for him, which he had attended for a while, until he found it too annoying to go to. 

A real man, in his opinion, dealt with his problems on his own. He didn’t shoulder them onto someone else.

That’s why the Arkham doctors found him a particular pain in the ass. He could count the number of times he had actually tried talking to the doctors on one hand. Otherwise, he either stayed silent or allowed Two-Face to berate the doctors until they gave up.

Harvey didn’t know what it was that particular night. Maybe it was the alcohol in his system. Maybe it was just in a particular strange and lonely mood that night. Maybe, it was the fact that, despite how drunk he was, Edward looked so interested in everything he said, that Harvey couldn’t help but feel like he was important for once. Maybe it was a combination of all of those things. Either way, he found himself telling the man all sorts of things.

First, the conversation started with the two of them guessing how much money Oswald had funneled into trying to make the Iceberg Lounge look as ritzy as it did, which soon morphed into them talking about Batman and Robin and Arkham. For a good five minutes or so, they had even gotten into a small debate at one point about whether Robin had been replaced by a new kid.

Harvey could see Edward’s points, but he refused to see what he said. After all, how likely was it for the Batman to find a kid who just happened to look exactly like the other kid?

And then soon, before Harvey knew it, he was lamenting about his past. He talked about Gilda. He talked about his mental problems. He talked about the annoyances of villainy. He talked about how all he wanted to do was the right thing. He was careful not to reveal way too much. One should never get too comfortable with any other rogues. No matter how trustworthy they seemed, they would be willing to sell your information in a heartbeat if they felt like it could benefit them in some way. Besides, he didn’t want to risk getting emotional. Alcohol had that effect on him and if he cried in front of another rogue, he would be embarrassed for the rest of his life.

Edward listened intently to all of his words, occasionally asking a couple of questions, giving advice, or commenting on the stuff when it was appropriate. 

The night had ended with Harvey eventually mentioning his fear of ending up like his father in a way. His father had been a real son of a bitch. An abusive asshole who only focused on his problems and didn’t give a damn about him or those around him, unless he needed a good punching bag to vent his frustration of his failures on. Harvey had vowed he would never become like him… and for a while, he did a pretty good job at that. He had become a successful and well-known district attorney, loved by the Gotham public. 

But one thing lead to another and soon, before he knew it, his life was spinning out of control. His mental health problems became overwhelming, he grew colder and meaner to the people around him, Two-Face began to have more influence in his life, his face was a mangled mess, and now he was a Gotham super criminal, feared and hated by all. Quite the downward spiral. And now, just like his dad, he was nothing but a bitter, husk of a man he used to be. But unlike his mother, Gilda was smart enough to leave that shell.

He sighed as he vented this out. Edward was surprisingly silent on this one, just letting Harvey talk. He did look thoughtful and almost depressed. After Harvey was finished lamenting, Edward quickly downed the rest of his drink, slammed it down, and looked at Harvey. Smiling without any real happiness, he said, “Fuck fathers, right?”

Harvey looked at him for a moment, wondering if Edward was making fun of him somehow, before deciding the man was genuine and nodding, “Yes…. fuck fathers.”

Then Edward had suddenly took his leave, saying that he had some matter to attend too. Harvey had found it abrupt, but had accepted it. Edward had been at the party for much longer than he had, after all, and he probably got tired of being Harvey’s ear for the night. 

He figured by the time the morning arrived, Edward would of forgotten everything he said and probably dealing with the worst hangover ever.

But apparently not. 

Harvey had been in his warehouse, trying to decide which bank to hit with his henchmen, when all of a sudden, they heard the door open. Seeing as his warehouse location was supposed to be secret, he immediately tensed at this, he and his henchmen all grabbing and pulling out their guns.

For a moment, Harvey wondered if it was the Batman who came in, but when had Batman ever used the door. He would smash through the windows or appear out of nowhere from the ceiling or something.

Imagine his surprise when he saw Edward strolling in casually, smirk on his face, his hands raised, saying, “Weapons down, gentleman! I am a friendly face!” 

If he was bothered by the fact that he had twenty machine guns pointing at him, his body language certainly didn’t suggest it. He was all casual and comfortable, as if he had walked into his own house instead of a Gotham rogue’s warehouse.

Harvey felt anger at this. Striding over, he grabbed Edward roughly by the front of his suit, taking satisfaction at seeing how startled Edward seemed at the rough gesture. He pressed his his gun to Edward’s temple and snarled, “How do you know about this place? Who told you?”

Suddenly, Edward’s infuriating smugness came back as he said, “My networking system is matched by none in all of Gotham.” His green eyes glimmered cleverly, as he said, “I know where every villain’s hideout is in the whole entire Gotham area.”

Harvey gritted his teeth. He wanted to accuse the bastard of lying, but he knew it was probably true. He saw those green television screens almost everywhere he went. Every time someone took them down, a new one seemed to be erected. 

Growling, he said, “Alright, then what do you want?”

“I have a proposition for you, Harvey,” Edward said, immediately, his smile returning, in an attempt to look placating.

Harvey narrowed his eyes. Roughly pushing Edward away, he growled, “I don’t do propositions. Now get out of here before I blast a hole in your brain.”

“Oh, but I assure you, that you would benefit quite heavily from this arrangement!” Edward cried out. 

Harvey growled, “Did you not here the part where I said I would blast a hole in your head?”

“Please just here me out. Would I risk my life if I didn’t think it true?” Edward pleaded. 

Harvey growled. Part of him knew he should fire off a shot, but he decided to be diplomatic. He supposed he could consider it repayment to Edward for listening to him, to hear him out. So growling, he said, “Fine. Come with me. And if this ends up being a trick, I swear on everything, Edward-”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ll riddle me full of holes and all of that stuff,” Edward said, waving a dismissive hand. 

Harvey growled, the other side of him not liking Edward’s disrespectful attitude. But he decided to ignore it, if only to get this over with. He barked at his henchmen to continue plotting, before leading Edward to the other end of the warehouse, where they had some privacy. Harvey still kept his gun with him. He didn’t see a weapon on Edward, besides that cane of his, but it was always best to come prepared. Besides, with how annoying Edward was being, he might have to use it anyway.

Turning to face Edward, he said, “Now spit it out. What is this proposition?” 

Edward took a breath, fixed his suit, before saying, “I think we should work together-”

“No.” Harvey said immediately. That had been pretty simple.

“Wait! I don’t think you are thinking of this fully,” Edward protested with a pout.

“I don’t have to. I don’t work with people,” Two-Face growled. He turned to walk away. He was about to growl at Edward to leave, when suddenly Edward zipped in front of him.

“Dent, I think you are not thinking of what a great duo we could be. Think of it. With your men, and my tech, we could get away with so much crime!” Edward said, “I can make tech that could rival the Batman’s easily!” 

Harvey growled, annoyed that this guy wasn’t getting the hint. Why hadn’t he shot him yet? Looking at Edward, he said, “No offense, Nygma, but why would I want to work with him?”

All of a sudden, Edward’s face looked very serious and almost sad as he said, “I just… I think we are a lot alike.”

“What, no we’re not-” Harvey was about to snap, but Edward cut him off.

“We’re both smart, we both want to destroy the Batman, we both drink away our problems… we both have daddy issues…” he said the last part with a sort of dark chuckle, that had little to no humor lacing it. Harvey all of a sudden realized why Edward look so uncomfortable when he had mentioned his father. 

Then, deflating a little, he said, “Look, I am going to be upfront with you, Harvey. I know that night at the Iceberg Lounge probably didn’t mean much to you… but I genuinely enjoyed it. I found you interesting… and I related to you in a lot of ways. I want to get to know you better.”

Harvey felt his heart pound despite himself. 

Edward took his silence as an opportunity to continue. “Look, if the idea of working with me is that bad, I’ll take the hint and leave. I guess I just… wanted to let you know.”

When Harvey didn’t say anything, Edward sighed, obviously disappointed, but he raised his hands in surrender and said, “Fine. I get it. I’ll take my leave.” 

Then, just like that, Edward was about to walk away. Harvey should let him. He really should. Two-Face was even telling him he should shoot the man in the back. But watching the man leave was actually troubling him for some reason. Was he _that_ lonely that he was taking Edward’s proposition seriously? 

Suddenly, before his mind could stop himself, he said, “Edward.”

Edward paused and looked at him curiously, cocking his head.

Harvey almost considered taking his words back, Two-Face was telling him to do exactly that, but he decided to continue anyway. “I don’t normally partner up with people… but… if you really think we can make a good business deal somehow… then perhaps we can discuss it over a dinner some other time.”

Edward immediately beamed and said, “Deal.”

**Author's Note:**

> I never wrote in Harvey's perspective before. It was actually a lot of fun. There is kind of a lack of Two-Face in there... but whatever.
> 
> As always, critique is wanted, and if you see a mistake, feel free to point it out so I can fix it!
> 
> And like always, have a great day! <3


End file.
